During construction of various structures, e.g., the manufacture of residential and commercial housing, it is sometimes desirable to apply an additive to floor surfaces to facilitate leveling of those surfaces. These additives, for example self-leveling concretes and/or polymers, are typically applied in a liquefied/slurry form that allows the additive to find a common level prior to solidifying. Such additives may be applied in a layer that, when solidified, may be several inches thick.
As may be appreciated, to allow the additive to solidify as a level surface, it may be desirable or even necessary to prevent the liquefied additive from flowing though gaps at the interface of a wall and a floor. One known method for preventing such flow is to apply a strip of tape (e.g., duct tape) along the interface of the wall and floor. In this regard, a first portion of the width of a tape strip is applied to the wall surface and a second portion of the width of the tape strip is applied to the floor surface. Generally, the application of such a tape strip effectively seals the interface between the wall surface and floor surface to prevent flow of a liquefied additive there through.
While use of tape strip(s) effectively seals an interface between a wall surface and a floor surface, the use of such additives provides several additional challenges. For instance, the additives typically solidify into a continuous slab on the floor surface. However, the additive may have a different rate of thermal expansion than the underlying floor surface. That is, solidified additive may expand at a greater rate than underlying flooring. This may cause the solidified additive to flake and/or break at the interface(s) of the floor and wall(s). In addition, such expansion may cause the wall(s) to bow or otherwise damage the wall.
Another potential disadvantage of such self-leveling additives is the enhanced transmission of acoustic sound through the floor, which is especially evident in self-leveling concrete floors. Specifically, such floors may conduct sound from a first room to a second room. This may be particularly problematic when the sound is conducted between separate residences (e.g., adjacent apartments).